AS MEDIA STUDIES

OLIVIA SPENCER-PERKINS

Back in the ‘Golden Age’ of Hollywood from the late 1920s to the mid-1940s, the film industry operated under the studio system. This means that certain companies controlled practically the entire process of film making, from production to distribution and exhibition. There were eight studios then, with five having fully integrated conglomerates, a production studio, creative workers under long-term exclusive contracts, distribution division and a wide network of theatre chains. These five studios were 20th Century Fox, MGM, Paramount Pictures, RKO Radio Pictures and Warner Bros. There were three other companies that were considered to be major studios, namely Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures and United Artists, though they had substantially smaller theatre chains.

These came to an end in 1948 when the set up was challenged in the Supreme Court under anti-trust laws. Production was thereafter separated from distribution and exhibition.

Still, the term studio system is being used up to now as reference to the outputs of the different companies. Here is a list of the ten biggest Hollywood studios. The top six are considered to be the major studios, while the last four, along with Relativity Media and DreamWorks Animation, are considered as mini-majors that compete directly with the majors, though they also sometimes work together to help with the distribution of home videos and in the foreign market.

Sony is the conglomerate behind Sony Pictures Entertainment. Its major studio subsidiary is Columbia Pictures. The company is also friendly to independent producers with its own art house division that is called Sony Pictures Classics. The company, through its distribution subsidiary called Screen Gems, also backs genre and B movie producers. With a 17% share of the entire US and Canadian markets. Sony is considered as the biggest studio these days. It also owns companies and prominent film brands like Tri Star Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Destination Films, Triumph Films, Stage 6 Films and Affirm Films.

Time Warner is a conglomerate that owns the second biggest share of

the combined markets of the US and Canada at 15.4%. Its parent division

is called Warner Bros. Entertainment, while it’s major studio subsidiary

is named Warner Bros Pictures.

It is also the owner of other

brands and divisions. Among

them are New Line Cinema,

Castle Rock Entertainment,

Turner Entertainment Co.,

Warner Bros. Animation and

DC Entertainment.

The Walt Disney Company controls about 14.3% of the entire North

American market. Its parent division is called The Walt Disney Studios.

Movie productions are done under its major studio subsidiary called Walt

Disney Pictures.

The Walt Disney

Company also owns

other important film

brands and divisions,

among them being

Lucas film, Marvel

Studios, Pixar,

Touchstone Pictures,

Walt Disney

Animation Studios

and Disney nature.

Viacom is the conglomerate behind the Paramount Motion Pictures Group. Its major studio subsidiary is Paramount Pictures, while art house movies are released under the name of

Paramount Vantage.

It also has a company dedicated for B movies called In surge

Pictures. It has an 8.5% share of the entire North American

market. It also owns MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies.

News Corporation is the outfit behind the Fox Entertainment

Group. The major studio subsidiary is 20th Century Fox, while

independent movies are distributed through its Fox Searchlight

Pictures. Other companies under News Corporation include Fox Faith. 20th Century Fox

Animation, Blue Sky

Studios and Fox

Animation Studios. It

also has a minority

stake in New Regency

Productions. The

company owns a 10.6%

share of the US and

Canadian markets.

Viacom is the

conglomerate behind

the Paramount

Motion Pictures

Group. Its major

studio subsidiary is

Paramount Pictures, ,

while art house

movies are released

under the name of Paramount Vantage. It also has a company

dedicated for B movies called In surge Pictures. It has an 8.5%

share of the entire North American market. It also owns MTV

Films and Nickelodeon Movies.

Lions Gate Entertainment is the most successful studio not

based in Los Angeles. Established in 1997 by Frank Giustra, the

company is also the owner of Artisan Entertainment. It has

recently been renamed as Lions Gate and the studio is now also

the owner of Summit Entertainment, the highest

earning mini

major studio

from 2009 to

2012. Lions Gate

also has a share

in Roadside

Attractions.

Harvey and Bob Weinstein

established The Weinstein

Company in 2005 after

leaving Miramax Films,

which they had helped

establish in 1979. It holds

the right to Dimension

Films, an outfit that the

brothers regularly use for

genre movies. While it had a hit back in 2007 with the movie called “1408,” it

then experienced a dry spell of two years without scoring a

blockbuster. Their long relationship with Quentin Tarantino has

helped the outfit turn around its fortunes, with the success of

the director’s 2009 movie “Inglorious Bastards” considered as a

watershed moment for the company.

MGM has downgraded itself from being a major studio into a minor media company that distributes films and television content.

It fully owns United Artists after it bought out the shares of Tom

Cruise and Paula Wagner. It still owns the rights to the franchise

of the James Bond movies. Its home video and overseas

theatrical products are distributed by 20th Century Fox.

Columbia Pictures, on the other hand, has helped distribute the

first two Bond movies that starred Daniel Craig, with its mother

company Sony helping out in subsequent releases.

Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen established DreamWorks in 1994. Though not a full-service studio, DreamWorks arranges for the production and financing of movies.

It then ties up with one of the majors for help in the

distribution. It actually had a brief stint as part of the Viacom

group, but it became independent again after over two years.

The Reliance ADA Group of India currently backs the company.

Katzenberg has since completely divested from the company

and now runs a separate studio called DreamWorks Animation.